Luisa Tetrazzini (soprano) - Merce, dilette amiche ('I Vespri Siciliani' - Verdi) (1914)

Luisa Tetrazzini sings the Bolero from 'I Vespri Siciliani,' with orchestra presumably conducted by Walter B. Rogers, recorded by Victor at Camden on 12 May 1914.

Tetrazzini (1871-1940) spent the first part of her career in Italy, made her American debut to great acclaim in 1905, and then - as a complete unknown - took Covent Garden by storm when she appeared in 'La Traviata.' For the next decade she was - as Wikipedia says - 'an international operatic superstar.' After World War I, she largely abandoned the operatic stage for the concert platform. Unfortunately, as Michael Scott puts it, affairs 'of the heart proved ruinous' and she spent her last years in financial difficulty.

Michael Scott refers to her 'astounding technique...founded in complete control of the breath,' her musicianship and the beauty of her singing. At the same time, he points out the obvious problem with her vocalism: 'the registers were very clearly delineated and not properly equalised.'

I transferred this recording from HMV DB 529.